The roadshow is when your deal meets the market. And the market has a long memory: every botched meeting, every sign of weakness gets around. Here are the seven mistakes we keep seeing, the ones that cost entire rounds.
1. Going out before you're ready
The most expensive mistake. You don't get a second chance at a first impression: a fund that has said no rarely reopens the file six months later. Going out with a shaky deck “to test the waters” means letting the market educate you while you burn your best ammunition. The equity story, the financial model and the data room are finished before the first meeting. On our mandates, this preparation accounts for 80% of the success.
2. Spraying and praying instead of qualifying
Sending the deck to 200 funds pulled off a list is the surest way to burn the deal. A well-run round targets 30 to 60 qualified investors: a compatible thesis, a ticket that fits your round, the capacity to deploy now (a fund at the end of its life won't sign), and for impact, a genuine dedicated allocation rather than window dressing. The quality of the targeting drives the response rate: done right, about one investor in two replies.
3. Not sequencing your approaches
Sending everything on the same day means losing control of the tempo. A roadshow runs in waves: a first wave to test the pitch and collect objections, then the priority targets once the argument is polished. And you keep some powder dry to reignite the competition when the term sheets come in.
4. Letting the momentum die
A raise is a perishable product. A process that drags sends a terrible signal: “nobody wants it”. Funds talk to each other, and no news is news. The fix: a timetable that's announced and kept, organised follow-ups, milestones that create urgency (back-to-back management presentations, a deadline for expressions of interest). It's a full-time job, and that's exactly why you outsource it.
5. Fixating on the valuation
Taking the term sheet with the highest valuation without reading the rest is a classic. Participating liquidation preference, full ratchet, a broad bad leaver: there are a thousand ways to claw back through the clauses what was given away on price. We've devoted a whole article to the clauses that matter. Negotiate the package, and remember that the best investor isn't always the highest bidder: it's the one who will get you to the next stage.
6. Neglecting cash during the process
Two versions of the same mistake: launching the raise too late (less than 12 months of cash ahead of you), and letting the business slow down during the 6 to 9 months of the process. Either way, your negotiating power melts as your bank balance drops, and funds read a cash flow forecast better than anyone.
7. Winging the meetings and the follow-up
Turning up without having studied the fund's portfolio, running the same pitch for a generalist VC and an impact fund, not sending a follow-up note, forgetting the objections raised: every detail counts, because the partner across the table will have to defend your deal in committee, without you. Prepare every meeting like a court hearing: who's across the table, what have they invested in, what objection will they raise, and what evidence will shut it down.
The common thread
These seven mistakes share one root: treating the raise as a side activity, squeezed in between two operational emergencies. A round above €2m is a project in its own right, with its own preparation, timetable and negotiation. That's exactly what we run in our fundraising mandates: you stay focused on the business, we run the process.
